


Apple Pie

by JustAnotherDumbUsername



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Amnesia, Angst, Author made herself cry, Author’s poor girlfriend has to put up with this shit if you see this ily babe, CEO Kuroo, Delta shut up abt me on Twitter challenge, F for Nekoma, F for kuroo, Hinata Shouyou Needs a Hug, I’m sorry, Kenma Kozume also likes Kuroo Tetsuro, Kenma Kozume likes apple pie, Lev and Yaku are dating but it’s not explicitly stated, M/M, Maybe if this gets enough attention I’ll write a second chapter thats a happy ending ?, No happy endings, So are Hinata and Kageyama, Someone take this tagging system away from me, What’s new though, can I get a hell yeah for no sleep, i wrote this in under an hour while I was supposed to write an essay for APUSH, no seriously, not proofread lol, this is just angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-12
Updated: 2020-11-12
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:53:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,799
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27516406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustAnotherDumbUsername/pseuds/JustAnotherDumbUsername
Summary: “Is this Kuroo Tetsuro?” The unfamiliar voice at the end of the line sounds strangely professional, and calm.Kuroo’s blood runs cold.
Relationships: Kozume Kenma/Kuroo Tetsurou
Comments: 8
Kudos: 42





	Apple Pie

**Author's Note:**

> No seriously heed the tags.

“Recording start!” 

“My name is Kozume Kenma. I am a second year at Nekoma High, my best friend is Tetsuro Kuroo. My favorite food is apple pie. I like video games. It’s January 1st, 2020.” 

~ 

Kuroo can’t focus in class. Not all too uncommon, his mind usually wanders to volleyball or something of the sort, but that isn’t the case here. He’s worried about Kenma. 

Kenma hadn’t been to school in a few days, while not uncommon in of itself, he usually at least answered Kuroo with a summary of what was going on. Where he was, if he was sick, and things of that nature. 

Kenma didn’t answer. And nobody seemed to know anything. He stopped by Kenma’s house a couple of times, sure, but the doors were locked and the lights were off. Nobody answered when he knocked at the door. 

So, to say Kuroo was worried was an understatement. So he tried to push the nagging feeling that something was very wrong with Kenma out of his head, and take his Chemistry notes. 

At exactly 12:59, one minute before his lunch hour ended, Kuroo got a phone call. Normally he’d let it go to voicemail since god knows he’s about to be late for class, but when he turned to look who it was, the caller ID flashed urgently. 

Kenma.

Kuroo decides that Calculus can wait. He answers the call, booking it to his car. 

“Kenma?” 

“Is this Kuroo Tetsuro?” The unfamiliar voice at the end of the line sounds strangely professional, and calm. 

Kuroo’s blood runs cold. “Yeah, this is, is he ok?” 

“Alive and stable. He’s at Richmond Heights hospital, if you care to visit,” 

Kuroo is already plugging the address into his GPS. “I’m on my way, what happened?” 

“We can’t disclose that information until you show ID, patient confidentiality,” 

“Great, thanks,” Kuroo hangs up uncharacteristically quickly.

When he gets there, running in, the nurses take him to the side. 

The next ten minutes are a blur for Tetsuro Kuroo. What he knows is that Kenma was in a car accident three days prior, that he seems to have a certain amount of amnesia, and that they don’t know how bad it is or if it’s progressive or not. 

Kuroo agrees to anything they shove in front of him, signing form after form after form without really reading them. He knows he’s going to explode if they don’t take him to see Kenma.

When they do, Kuroo REALLY wishes he had thought of something to say beforehand. Kenma is propped up on pillows, playing a game of some sort that Kuroo doesn’t recognize. Not that he was all that fluent in video games before. 

Kenma looks up at him, piercing yellow eyes staring straight into his soul. “Tetsu,” he sounds relieved. 

“Kozume,” Kuroo releases a breath he didn’t know he had been holding. 

“I’m okay,” 

“Yeah, they said you were,” 

“Well, I actually am,” 

“You have amnesia, Kenma, that doesn’t count as okay,” 

“It’s not that bad,” Kenma dismisses his worries, eating another spoonful of jello. “I’ll be back to school soon enough,” 

“How much do you remember?” 

“Almost everything. I’m missing a couple years apparently but, I feel fine, I don’t get why everyone is so concerned,” 

Kuroo doesn’t know what to say to that. 

“You should get going, you know? Go home?” 

“Have them call me if there’s any updates?” 

“Why is that a question, you know I will,” 

“Thanks, Kenma,” Kuroo waves as he walks out the door. 

He visits a few more times over the next few weeks, bringing Kenma the latest story about Lev, a slice of apple pie from the bakery down the street, a new game. Not much changes, not until 5 weeks and 2 days after he got the first phone call. 

Kenma’s caller ID flashes on Kuroo’s phone while he’s busy doing his homework, so he stops to pick up the phone as he usually does. “Hey Kenma,” 

“Kuro? I have a question,” 

“Ask away, kitten,” 

“Who’s Shoyo?” 

The question hangs in the air, heavy as lead. Just last week they were talking about Hinata, Karasuno’s decoy. 

“Kuro?” 

“Shoyo is- Karasuno’s decoy spiker? Your friend?” 

“I don’t know him, and he won’t stop texting me, what do you mean he’s my friend?” 

Something the nurse said before hits Kuroo like a stack of bricks. Progressive retrograde amnesia. Getting worse over time. 

Kuroo tries to keep up a functional conversation while driving to the hospital while he tries not to panic. 

He gets there, and stays with Kenma until he’s asleep. Then, and only then, does he pull out his phone to get an idea of what he’s in for. 

He finds out very quickly this is could kill Kenma. And with how fast it’s progressed, it seems to be a severe case. 

Kuroo puts his phone away, and blinks away the tears. He can stay strong. He has to. 

For Kenma. 

~ 

“Recording start!” 

“My name is Kozume Kenma. I am a second year in high school, my best friend is Tetsuro Kuroo. I like apple pie. It’s March 3rd, 2020.” 

Kenma’s condition had only been worsening, much to Kuroo’s dismay. He has hope, of course Kenma is going to be okay. He’s a healthy student in high school, he’ll recover. 

He gets to the hospital for the third time that week, and his heart stops at the sight awaiting him. 

Kenma’s hooked up to multiple new IV’s, fingers no longer tapping at his switch, no longer entranced by the flashing lights of the new game. 

Kuroo sits down, and Kenma lifts his head. He starts to speak, but Kuroo shushes him and talks to him about the team. 

Kenma’s head rests back on the pillow and he listens, hand holding onto Kuroo’s like a lifeline. 

And Kuroo doesn’t let go. 

He comes back the next day, Kenma sitting up and clutching a folded piece of paper. When Kuroo comes in, Kenma holds it out. 

He takes it and reads it. 

‘To Kuroo, 

We’ve been friends for longer than I can remember, which at this point doesn’t seem to be much of a feat. I don’t remember a lot, but I know when you come in my heart warms up and I want you to stay. So I guess this is my long overdue confession

Sorry,  
Kenma’

Kuroo looks at Kenma, and then the letter, and then Kenma again. “Can I kiss you?” 

Kenma gives him a weak thumbs up and a relieved smile. 

And Kuroo kisses him. And for the first time in a very long time, Kenma truly believes he’s going to get better. 

~ 

“Recording start!” 

“My name is Kozume Kenma. I am... a high school student, my boyfriend is Tetsuro Kuroo. It’s... June?” 

“Do you remember the year?” 

“No” 

It gets better before it gets worse. Kenma is sitting up, eating again, and walking. 

And then he wasn’t. He couldn’t remember how to chew, how to walk, how to make his games work. He remembered Kuroo Tetsuro, who would come in every day and talk about a team he had no attachment to. A place he had never been to. 

But he remembered Kuroo. 

Kuroo hated every second of this. Kenma had gone from somewhat like himself again to a skeleton. He’s wasting away, and his eyes aren’t clear, sharp yellow anymore. They’re dull, confused, and cloudy. 

It’s hot outside, it is June after all, and any other year, Kuroo would be at the pool with Kenma, eating popsicles and laughing when their tongues turned blue. 

But this wasn’t any other year. Kenma’s condition got worse, again. He was barely responsive, and only seemed to open his eyes when Kuroo spoke. 

So speak Kuroo did, reading him book after book after book, and then beginning again when he was done with that. 

The sun is setting, getting late. He was holding Kenma’s hand when he feels light pressure, and hears a soft sound out of Kenma. 

He looks up, and Kenma is staring at him, eyes clearer than they’ve been in months. Kuroo is up, cupping his cheek and listening to him. “Yes?” 

“... love... you...” 

“I love you too, Kenma,” a soft smile spreads across Kuroo’s face. He’s going to recover. He’s going to get better. 

Kuroo checks the clock, realizing it’s bedtime for the both of them. “Bedtime, Kozume,” 

Kenma gives a weak thumbs up, and pats the bed next to him. Kuroo happily obliges, settling into bed with his warm boyfriend, wrapping his arms around him. “Goodnight, sleep well, I love you Kozume,” 

He gets a sound in response, which he takes as the ‘I love you too’ that it is, and goes to bed, Kenma secure and warm in his arms. 

Kuroo wakes up at an odd hour- his body almost never wakes him up this early. Kuroo slowly realizes it’s because he’s too cold. Not just him. 

Kenma. 

Kenma is too cold. 

Kuroo’s blood runs cold, grabbing at Kenma. “Kozume- Kozume wake up!” He shakes him. “Kozume! Come on! Not funny!” 

He stays like that, trying to wake him up for a few more minutes, until he reaches to feel for a pulse and finds none. And then he just buries into Kenma’s chest and wails, begging for him to come back, because “Kenma! I can’t do this without you! Please!” 

And that’s when Tetsuro Kuroo cries. After that he doesn’t. 

Not at Kenma’s funeral. Not when the team holds a memorial. Not when a university calls his phone asking for Kenma, because he’s the captain and he can get that fantastic setter to the college, right? 

Not when he’s left a box of Kenma’s items, a box of letters Kenma somehow managed to have a nurse help him write out for when he’s gone. One for each of his birthdays, some for when he’s being missed, some for the dark days and some for the light. 

Kenma really covered all his bases. 

Kuroo reads each letter, memorizes every word, and then burns them. Every birthday he reads the one dated with that year, and then sits outside and burns the paper, watching the words disappear. 

Kuroo Tetsuro doesn’t love after that. He grows, starting his own business, getting rich and famous and powerful. But the memories of his lover never fully go away. 

So, Kuroo Tetsuro doesn’t let them. 

On a warm June evening, Kuroo Tetsuro, CEO of Kuroo Enterprises announces he’s starting a charity. He’s going to fund research centers, to help find a cure for progressive amnesia. To halt the memory loss. The Apple Pie Foundation. And as the room claps, Tetsuro Kuroo can feel the presence of his lover. Warm. Proud. There. 

Kuroo Tetsuro cries that night. 

Kenma has never been more proud.

**Author's Note:**

> .. Maybe chapter 2 is an alternative ending where Kenma lives. Haven’t decided yet. Leave a comment if you want that ^-^


End file.
